The present invention relates to methods and compositions for preventing, treating, or controlling protozoal infections in warm-blooded animals by administering thereto an effective amount of the antibiotic LL-D42067.alpha..
Coccidiosis is one of the most important of the protozoan parasitic diseases which plague the meat-producing industry. It is responsible for significantly greater losses to the poultry industry than from any other protozoan disease and is likewise responsible for substantial economic loss among a wide variety of farm, companion, and game animals.
This disease is caused by protozoan parasites which infect the host animals causing them to lose weight, reduce their feed efficiency; and, in many instances, die. In poultry, these protozoan parasites are generally of the genus Eimeria; six species of which have been shown to be primary causative agents for the disease in poultry. These six species are: Eimeria tenella, Eimeria necatrix, Eimeria mivati, Eimeria maxima, Eimeria brunetti, and Eimeria acervulina.
Although coccidiosis has been recognized, for many years, as one of the most important diseases confronting the meat-producing industry, nevertheless, heretofore no entirely satisfactory method of control of the disease has been provided.
Anticoccidial treatments which have met with some acceptance by the poultry industry are the compounds described in the E. Waletzky et al., U.S. Pat. No. Re. 26,833, reissued Mar. 24, 1970; and A. S. Tomcufcik, U.S. Pat. No. 3,769,432, issued Oct. 30, 1973, and the W. D. Celmer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,148,882, issued Apr. 10, 1979. The drugs described in the patents are useful for the treatment of coccidial infections in poultry; however, new, more effective treatments are still required if the industry is to successfully control the disease that challenges meat production throughout the world.